Things which were made of cheese. The nightmare recalled.

[dirttorpedo]

OE specialized rims from the early 90's. I had to replace the one on my 91 Stumpjumper FS after about a year or two of riding in BC mud. The Mavic rim I rebuilt that hub with lasted for ever.

 

[nicktait1]

Goodness….we pushed things back then…and there were so many boutique companies and majors doing stuff without good R&D.

I remember things I coveted, then ordered and paid for….and which fell apart, or broke, or were just well below the level of promise….

Two stick in the mind…

Mavic Dakar cranks. Made of a soft alloy which meant they came loose every ride. Repeatedly. And if you tightened them they climbed up the splines each time. I got used to carrying a large socket and allen key to tighten them. Then I got used to staring at them in the workshop after I gave up on them. Expensive mistake.

OnZa Mongo 1 headset. Ordered three. Absolutely useless. The steerer rocked whatever you did to it.
In the bin. Embarrassed that I had recommended it to a friend because the design looked right. I wasn’t. It was wrong. VeRy wrOng. (See what I did there).

Anyone else found that Campagnolo seat binder bolts turn to cheese with age?

 

[Woz]

Control Tech Team Issue micro adjust seat-post. Thought I would be clever and get something more exotic than
the Kalloy Nitto rip off copy. What a mistake; bolt for the saddle cradle bent after one ride.

 

[Woz]

Seem to remember some bolts for XT brake levers for the handle bar clamp were also toss.

Like 2mm of depth for the hex key to go in with no purchase whatever. Think I had specific ground flat hex keys for them.

 

[jimo746]

Tioga T-Bone stem, think I broke 3, then the bike shop gave me discount on a Control Tech stem as they were sick of replacing the Tioga stems . The local Moto-X track was a great test bed for bike stuff

 

[markoc]

Continuing the Control Tech theme - I bent a seatpost after only a few rides. At the time it cost (to teenage me) a fortune.

Also, super soft grips such as Ules and Porkipaws which looked beautiful and were super comfy but turned to slush once covered in abrasive UK winter mud.

 

[marc two tone]

Calling alpinestars AL MEGA, most quill stems across the range and orange E3 owners, past and present.
Wot choo guys gonna add?

 

[2manyoranges]

Continuing the Control Tech theme - I bent a seatpost after only a few rides. At the time it cost (to teenage me) a fortune.

Also, super soft grips such as Ules and Porkipaws which looked beautiful and were super comfy but turned to slush once covered in abrasive UK winter mud.

Spot on. They lasted …. weeks in some cases. BITD: ‘Super tacky!!!!’ Yep…and now smeared all over my nice Scott mitts….

 

[2manyoranges]

Might I venture the onZa Porc? I liked them, I had lots. I had white ones, I had tanwall, I had black 2.10s. They shed mud. They gripped on climbs. They were Cooooool.

Also…

They threw you on the ground without warning.
They had a horrible transition onto the side knobs.
They wore out faster than a pair of Levi’s on tarmac after you fell off an MX bike (that’s fast)

I tried to convince myself that they were better than Ground Controls. They weren’t. They really weren’t.

 

[jimo746]

Oh, and Specialized "Umma Gumma" compound grey tyres, a few runs on the road to/from trails and they were looking rather worn...